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Call Me 'Dame,' Tim: Angela Ahrendts To Be Named Dame Of The British Empire

Call Me 'Dame,' Tim: Angela Ahrendts To Be Named Dame Of The British Empire

January 29, 2014

For some, being named Apple’s senior vice president of Retail might be a big enough role to deal with. But not Angela Ahrendts - no, she’s set to get another, even grander title, according to a recent report: “Dame of the British Empire.”

If Vogue’s sources are right, the incoming SVP will be honored later this year with the female equivalent of a knighthood. But the award won’t be bestowed by Queen Elizabeth, or Charles, or even Wills. Rather, because Ahrendts isn’t a Brit herself, it’s not customary for the honor to be handed over by a member of the royal family (even though it is approved and sanctioned by the Queen).

Because of this, Ahrendts’s award isn’t set to be made as part of the Queen’s Birthday or New Year’s Honors Lists (which occur in June and January, respectively), either, since non-British nationals are invited to be Knights and Dames of the British Empire at numerous other intervals throughout the year. The publication notes, however, that Ahrendts is expected to collect the DBE in the coming weeks, and adds:

Ahrendts is joined on the list by Melinda Gates - American businesswoman, philanthropist and wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates - who will also become a Dame, as well as London-based charity campaigner and founder of Kids Company Camila Batmanghelidjh, who receives a CBE. Mario Testino - who appeared on the same list - collected his honorary OBE from culture minister Ed Vaizey earlier this month.

Of course, this means Apple will count not one, but two such awardees among their senior executive staff, given that the company’s senior vice president of Design, Jony Ive, received the accolade a couple of years back.

Apple confirmed its hire of Ahrendts back in October, and the former Burberry chief executive officer is set to take control of the Cupertino, Calif. company’s retail and online stores. Her challenges will involve helping Apple Retail Stores recover lost sales, and unifying Apple’s retail shopping experience with its Apple Online Store.

We’ll keep you updated with more news concerning Ahrendts’s move to Apple as we receive it.

In the meantime, see: Cydia Tweak: Suffering Weird WinterBoard Status Bar Bugs? Then Update The App, Crack The Curious Case Of The Candy Conspiracy In Another Case Solved, and Is It Super? A New Ad Finds Inspiration From Apple’s ‘1984’ Masterpiece.

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